One of the civilians honored by President Donald Trump for heroism during the El Paso, Texas, Walmart shootings in August was arrested by the Secret Service when he came to the White House Monday, and law enforcement officials say the man's claims of throwing soda bottles at the shooter aren't backed up by video.
"Nobody bothered to check with us," El Paso police spokesman Sgt. Enrique Carrillo told the Washington Examiner about Chris Grant, 50, whose mother accepted a certificate from the president on his behalf. "They would have been informed, as I am telling you now, that our detectives reviewed hours of video and his actions did not match his account."
According to a spokesperson for the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, the Secret Service arrested Grant for being a "fugitive from justice" after determining there was a warrant for his arrest.
Grant has a criminal record for theft and evading arrest, and a Secret Service spokesman said he was temporarily detained over the arrest warrant. However, the agency that issued the warrant would not extradite the man, and so he was released from custody.
Grant said in several interviews, including to CNN's Chris Cuomo, that he sought to spare shoppers by throwing bottles at the gunman, and ended up being shot in the ribs and kidney.
As of Thursday morning, a GoFundMe campaign had raised around $17,000 for Grant. Trump also praised him during the White House ceremony, saying he'd thrown bottles at the shooter, causing him to "turn toward Chris and fire at Chris, whereby Chris suffered two serious gunshot wounds. But he is recovering well and we wish him the best. His family is here. So please thank Chris for us, please."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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